1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to pc tablet holders, specifically to pc tablet holders to be used for bedtime reading.
2. Prior Art
Pc tablet holders are designed to be portable and to provide a hands-free holding of the pc tablet for comfortable screen view and touch screen operation. However, many of the commercially available pc tablet holders aren't designed for bedtime reading. Those that may be used for bedtime reading need to be placed on the user's lap, interfering with the user's mobility of the legs and knees and falling short in providing an eye-level-holding of the pc tablet for comfortable viewing. Others that do suspend a pc tablet above the user's mid-body section at the user's eye level have bases that need to be placed on the floor requiring long support members rendering them more bulky, less portable, and pricier to the consumer. With the use of pc tablets as electronic book readers and the wide spread bedtime reading and bedtime internet browsing habits of an increasingly number of people, manufacturers are looking for ways to develop holders that can be used for bedtime reading or internet browsing, that provides a comfortable, hands-free, eye-level holding of the pc tablet without losing comfort, portability and at an affordable cost to the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,135 to Yamada (1997), U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,451 B1 to Blythe et al. (2003), U.S. Pat. No. 6,967,836 B2 to Huang et al. (2005), U.S. Pat. No. 7,762,519 B2 to Kunii et al. (2010), U.S. Pat. No. 7,712,719 B2 to Deny et al. (2010), U.S. Pat. No. 7,861,995 B2 to Liou (2011), U.S. Pat. No. 7,916,468 B2 to Takizawa (2011), U.S. Pat. No. 7,969,732 B1 to Noble (2011), and U.S. Pat. No. 8,020,818 B2 to Chou et al. (2011) show electronic device stands whose main purpose is to solve the problem of accessibility of the operating buttons and the visual display of the electronic device when placed flat on a desktop. Some of them are easy to use (Yamada's, Liou's), inexpensive to make (Yamada's, Liou's), and compact and easily portable (Liou's, Derry's, Chou's, Kunii's) and some can even be used to support the electronic device on an upstanding wall (Blythe's) or to carry the electronic device inside the holder (Huang's). While achieving their intended purposes the design of these electronic device holders can be classified into two categories: one, those whose base makes them stable only when placed on a flat surface, and two, those whose ample base allows placing them on the user's lap providing a reasonable amount of stability. The holders that can not be placed on a user's lap either have very narrow bases (Noble's and Liou's) or have individual legs (Kunii's, Blythe's, Chou's, and Derry's) that would cause them, and the pc tablet, to trip back or sideways if placed on a user's lap for bedtime reading. The holders that can be placed on a user's lap for bedtime reading providing a reasonable degree of stability (Takisawa's, Huang's, and Yamada's) would restrict the user's legs mobility. All of these electronic device holders when placed on a user's lap or on the sitting surface will require the user's head to be tilted down in order to look at, and interact with, the pc tablet's touch screen. The restriction of the user's legs mobility and the need to tilt the head down becomes, after a while, very uncomfortable. What is needed is a pc tablet holder for bedtime reading that need not to be placed on the user's lap so it isn't too restrictive on the user's mobility and that can support the pc tablet near the user's eye-level so the user need not to tilt the head down to look at and interact with the pc tablet's touch screen.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,156 to Mena (1984), U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,630 to Richard (1988), and U.S. Pat. No. 7,559,522B1 to Hlatky (2009) show book holding devices meant for in-bed reading. Due to the book-like size of the new pc tablets in the market and the fact that many of these pc tablets are mainly used for reading electronic books, these book holders could be used to hold the pc tablet for reading and are, therefore, evaluated in this application.
Mena's device for reading in bed is a rack placed over the reader's head while the reader is lying in bed in a supine position. The rack has an inclined transparent surface upon which the book is placed face down so it can be read by the user who is facing up with the head right underneath the holder.
The use of Mena's device as a pc tablet holder would allow the viewing of the pc tablet screen but would not allow the interaction with the pc tablet's touch screen.
Richard's device is in essence a portable table with a transparent inclined surface that can be used to support a book or as a lap writing surface. Similar to Mena's device it can be used to read a book, while in bed, in a supine position and would have the same limitations as Mena's device when used with a pc tablet.
Richards' device, however, can also be used to read a book while sitting on a bed with the back of the user against the head board or against the pillows. In this case the table is placed over the reader's lap and the book rests on the table's inclined surface at a height below the user's eye-level. In this configuration of Richard's device the movement of the user's knees is limited to the clearance between the knees with extended legs and the underneath of the table, which is tight in most cases, limiting the user's comfort if the user wants to bring the knees up or cross one leg over the other.
Hlatky's hospital bed book holder is a multi layer tray system specifically for use on a hospital bed which has side rails upon which hooks, on the lateral edges of the book holder, are mounted. Although this design brings the book closer to the user's eye-level, it still interferes with the user's leg movement and would require a bed with side rails, similar to those of a hospital bed, in order to use it at home.
3. Objects and Advantages
The object of this invention is to provide a pc tablet holder for bedtime reading that:    (a) allows the hands-free holding of a pc tablet above the user's mid-body area when the user is sitting on a horizontal surface with the back against a substantially normal surface in relation to the sitting surface;    (b) is supported by the sitting surface, not the user's lap, to minimize the restriction on the user's legs mobility;    (c) holds a pc tablet at the user's comfortable eye-level so the user need not to tilt the head down for viewing and interacting with the pc tablet's touch screen;    (d) allows the easy engagement and disengagement of the pc tablet into the pc tablet holder without damaging the pc tablet's surface finishing;    (e) allows the selective positioning of the pc tablet in a portrait or landscape orientation;    (f) allows the easy adjustment of the pc tablet's reading angle;    (g) is versatile, lightweight and highly portable;    (h) is made from readily available materials and requires no complex manufacturing processes so it can be made inexpensive for the user.
Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings.